Chimpomatic

Sub Pop's newest signings are really lightening my mood of late with this debut album of effortless indie rollers. With lead singer Vincent Kircher's grasp of melody and the ease of which this band deliver their message, That's How We Burn emerges as a record beyond its years. This could be due to the band's stint in relative musical obscurity ....read more

All's been quiet from the Sufjan camp in terms of new material since 2005 - and out of the silence emerges this 8 track EP. To put it mildly I think I'd prefer to watch reruns of England vs Algeria 2010 than listen to this again. It's equally as dull, but just doesn't have so much riding on it. To be honest I think I'd given up on Mr Stevens somewh ....read more

As a big fan of this cult Australian movie, I've been looking out for a copy of the Dogs in Space soundtrack since the early 90's - and only now, thanks to the magic of file-sharing I finally get my hands on it. And it's fan-expanded edition at that. The film and therefore the soundtrack are set in Melbourne's 'Little Band' scene of the late 70's, ....read more

Last week's Black Mountain gig sent me into a completist spin of Black-Mountain-Army-MP3-domination and as a result I dug up this previously overlooked, very early Jerk With A Bomb album. Before Pink Mountaintops and before Black Mountain it was just One Easy Skag and the Silo - AKA Stephen McBean and Joshua Wells. While later JWAB efforts - 2001' ....read more

With a new album on the way and a slew of festival dates lined up, Canada's 2007/8 chimprock staple Black Mountain were back in town for an intimate gig at the perfectly-sized Lexington in preparation for this weekend's Latitude festival. Pastiche-heavy new song Radiant Hearts opened the show, before new album highlight Wilderness Heart move ....read more

What a relief it is to see something new. After all the endless sequels, franchise-extensions, remakes and reboots we've been lumbered with in recent years, you start to feel like no-one is going to bother coming up with anything new, which presents an odd problem: what are people going to remake in 20 years time?! Anyhow, Inception delivers on it ....read more

Jeff Tweedy cemented his position at the top of the league this week, with another top-notch performance - this time without the help of backing band Wilco and in the serene setting of Islington's Union Chapel. I've been looking forward to this one since missing his 2005 solo show in favour of seeing an ageing Bob Dylan at Brixton. A shocking ....read more

Death Comes To Town sees the welcome return of 90's comedy legends Kids In The Hall, as the canuckian comedians eschew their traditional scetch show format for a narrative based comedy 'drama'. Of course it's not that straightforward. The five kids play 90% of the characters in the backwater town of Shuckton, where death has literally come to tow ....read more

Emerging bleary eyed from the Christmas/New Year haze I was confronted with nothing but talk of immanent financial hardship and the merits of a New York band called The Drums. I laughed off both as mere hype but lo and behold they've both come true and after hearing this debut album the latter certainly certainly makes the former rumor more easy to ....read more

This 5 track EP comes into view as another darkly looming juggernaught in this impressive bands back catalogue. It continues on form the success of 2007's awesome Turn The Lights Out and though doesn't really aim to make much ground in terms of progression it manages to more that solidify this band as one of Matadors more steady exports. ....read more

On it's impending release I remember thinking of Disintegration as something of a sell out. A mainstream album on a major record label, which was getting the kind of promotion a new Kings of Leon record would get today. In hindsight, it is perhaps The Cure's darkest and most complete album - focussing their attention in a way that the singles-orien ....read more

As the dying beauty of opener I'm In Your Church At Night fades gently into the background you'll ask yourself where on earth this sound came from and how dare it pop up and steal your heart this damn easy and with such little warning. Well it's the momentous achievement of Pat Grossi who's soaring falsetto vocals are the instant attention grabber. ....read more

Wild Nothing is the work of Virginia's Jack Tatum and though Gemini wears its 80's mope influences on its sleeve it does it with pride. Drenched in hazy sunshine, vocals buried in texture, swirling jangle guitars and synth washes all combine to create a glorious mud of sound that penetrates every pore of your being. It has the nostalgia of Pains Of ....read more

The first taste of Black Mountain's forthcoming album Wilderness Heart has arrived - and Old Fangs is no disappointment. Not exactly as expected, with the band moving their sound forward the best part of a decade to the late 70's/early 80's - but exactly as expected wouldn't be much fun would it? Empires will be smashed, dual vocals will rule ....read more

I know this has been out for ages but I'm just loving it. Formerly known as The Muslims, this San Diego four piece wisely changed their name and emerged with a belated release of this debut proper. It doesn't rewrite anything but just hits all the indie-punk buttons in quite a mild mannered, but endlessly pleasing way. The formula is very much two ....read more

The problem with this record is evident from the opening bars of the second song. You'll find it's a slowed down version of the first. And this feeling of familiarity runs from song to song and ultimately masks their merit. And they do indeed display their fair share of merit. Running very much in the Strokes / Albert Hammond Jnr school of indie po ....read more